Regulated entertainment

Regulated entertainment takes place in front of an audience and is either: 

• provided for members of the public
• provided exclusively for members of a private qualifying club and their guests
• arranged by someone who is trying to make a profit 

Examples include: 

• dancing by the public or performers
• film exhibitions
• indoor sporting events, boxing or wrestling
• live music including karaoke
• plays
• recorded music
• similar to live music, recorded music or dancing by the public or performers 

Entertainment will always need regulating if: 

• it’s provided to over 500 people (or over 1000 people for indoor sporting events)
• provided between 11pm and 8am

Regulated entertainment will need either:

• a premises licence for ongoing entertainment at one premises
• a Temporary Event Notice for entertainment at a one-off event

Some entertainment does not need regulating with any licensing permission. 

Performances taking place between 8am and 11pm to less than 500 people of: 

• plays or dance
• film exhibitions held in a community premises such as a community centre, village hall or church hall
• amplified live and recorded music performed on premises licensed to sell alcohol or in a community premises
• any entertainment provided by and taking place in a school, hospital or council premises (excluding boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts) 

Performances taking place between 8am and 11pm of: 

• unamplified live music for an audience of any size, in any location
• indoor sporting events to less than 1000 people (only licensable if Olympic style Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling)

If music from a premises causes a public nuisance, we may regulate it following a review of the premises licence. 

You do not need a licence for entertainment:

• at garden fetes (unless held for private gain)
• in a moving vehicle
• in places of public religious worship 

You do not need a licence for:

• Morris dancing
• religious meetings or services
• tv and radio broadcasts, providing they are shown live and not recorded

You do not need a licence to show films:

• as part of an exhibition in a museum or gallery
• which are mainly to demonstrate a product, advertise goods or services or provide information, education or instruction 

You do not need a licence where there is background entertainment rather than the entertainment being the main purpose of people attending the event.

For example:

• background music at supermarkets
• music during keep-fit classes (people are there to exercise)
• salsa dance classes (people are there to learn to dance)
• a pub jukebox playing in the background (people are there to drink)
• busking in a town centre

We also expect buskers to follow these rules:

• do not make too much noise – we discourage the use of amplifiers and ask that buskers are sensitive that noise may have on businesses and residents
• be prepared to reduce the volume or stop playing if asked
• do not block public highways (footpaths, pavements or open pedestrian areas)
• do not display notices asking for payment
• do not sell or offer items for sale in a public space (you need street trading consent to do this)
• follow the rules of the Town Council where you're busking (for example, only busk in certain parts of the town or for a limited periods of time)

If you will be covering songs by other artists, you will need to check if you need a licence from the Performing Rights Society to do this.

However, if the entertainment is a one-off organised performance, advertised in advance, you will need a Temporary Event Notice.